About this Item
The renowned alchemist Oswald Croll or Crollius (1563-1609) was "a professor of medicine at the University of Marburg in Hesse, Germany. A strong proponent of alchemy and using chemistry in medicine, he was heavily involved in writing books and influencing thinkers of his day towards viewing chemistry and alchemy as two separate fields. … Croll received his doctorate in medicine in 1582 at Marburg, then continued studies at Heidelberg, Strasburg, and Geneva. After working as a tutor, he arrived in Prague in 1597. He remained there for two years, and again from 1602 until his death. There, through Rudolf II, he came into contact with other alchemical writers such as Edward Kelley" (Wikipedia). It was in 1583 at Prague that Edward Kelley (1555-1597/8) had been "appointed alchemist to the emperor, Rudolph II" (Oxford DNB). "Croll died suddenly in 1609. His reputation and influence grew after his death, and was noted by Robert Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy. In 1618, Croll was deemed one of alchemy's heroes in Johann Daniel Mylius' Basilica Philosophica" (Wikipedia). BOUND WITH: The renowned alchemist Oswald Croll or Crollius (1563-1609) was "a professor of medicine at the University of Marburg in Hesse, Germany. A strong proponent of alchemy and using chemistry in medicine, he was heavily involved in writing books and influencing thinkers of his day towards viewing chemistry and alchemy as two separate fields. … Croll received his doctorate in medicine in 1582 at Marburg, then continued studies at Heidelberg, Strasburg, and Geneva. After working as a tutor, he arrived in Prague in 1597. He remained there for two years, and again from 1602 until his death. There, through Rudolf II, he came into contact with other alchemical writers such as Edward Kelley" (Wikipedia). It was in 1583 at Prague that Edward Kelley (1555-1597/8) had been "appointed alchemist to the emperor, Rudolph II" (Oxford DNB). "Croll died suddenly in 1609. His reputation and influence grew after his death, and was noted by Robert Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy. In 1618, Croll was deemed one of alchemy's heroes in Johann Daniel Mylius' Basilica Philosophica" (Wikipedia). Not only was Croll an associate of the famous British alchemist Edward Kelley, but he also was a correspondent of the female Latin poet Elizabeth Jane Weston (bap. 1581?, d. 1612), who became Kelley's stepdaughter when Weston's mother married for the second time. After Croll's death, large portions of his work were translated by Richard Russell, who was one half of an esteemed two-brother team of alchemists and translators of alchemical works, Richard Russell (d. circa 1697) and William Russell (1634-1696), the latter having been "chemist-in-ordinary to Charles II" (Oxford DNB). It was Croll's Bazilica Chymica (1670) that Richard translated first, but he did so in secret, concealing his authorship of the translation for many years. The present book, ESTC R208771, is the first appearance in book form of Croll's work in the English language: remarkably, the ESTC finds some copies in the British Isles and some in North America but not one copy held by a library of continental Europe. 8vo, pp. [ii], 70, with an inscription and drawing on the verso of the last leaf. The renowned alchemist Oswald Croll or Crollius (1563-1609) was "a professor of medicine at the University of Marburg in Hesse, Germany. A strong proponent of alchemy and using chemistry in medicine, he was heavily involved in writing books and influencing thinkers of his day towards viewing chemistry and alchemy as two separate fields. … Croll received his doctorate in medicine in 1582 at Marburg, then continued studies at Heidelberg, Strasburg, and Geneva. After working as a tutor, he arrived in Prague in 1597. He remained there for two years, and again from 1602 until his death. There, through Rudolf II, he came into contact with other alchemical writers such as Edward Kelley" (Wikipedia). It was in 1583 at Prague that Edward K. Seller Inventory # 10051
Contact seller
Report this item
